


Catacombs

by kuhekabir



Category: Captain America (2011), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-21
Updated: 2012-09-26
Packaged: 2017-11-05 18:40:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/409717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuhekabir/pseuds/kuhekabir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Catacombs – hidden passageways, mostly underground. Well, after a building landed on top of Tony and a green eyed stranger, he figured that was exactly where his memories had scurried off to. They went into hiding and it was now up to him to dig them out. Until fate comes calling and everything he thought he knew, gets turned up side down again. Good thing he’s learned how to go with the flow…right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea popped into my head and wouldn't go away so I've started writing it. I just really wanted to write an amnesia!Tony story...I couldn't help myself. LOL.

“Ngh…”

Debris rained down on him like water would in a shower, making him duck his head.

“Owww…” he complained, or at least he tried to because his throat wasn’t quite working right.

Darkness was all around him, surrounding him but he didn’t care. There was a sledgehammer currently sitting on his head, trying to drill a hole and if he could, he would’ve drilled one himself so the ground could swallow him up.

He shifted and more debris rained down on him. This time there were bigger chunks too because something definitely a bit too large hit him on the shoulder.

“Ngh…” he protested yet again.

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” the biting comment had his hackles rising on sheer principle alone but he couldn’t muster up the strength to actually do something about it.

He wiggled, trying to get out of the shower…wait…he wasn’t in a shower, was he? Because _showers_ were supposed to clean you and he definitely didn’t feel clean. Also, they weren’t supposed to dump hurtful things on you, right?

“What did I just say?” the annoyed voice came again. “If you want to die just tell me so I can leave you to it…”

“Nghr…”

A heavy weight was lifted off his chest. Suddenly there was air! He sucked in as much of it as he could which promptly ended with him having a coughing fit.

“There…there…”

Strong arms pushed him forward, patting his back.

“What happened?” he croaked out, blinking rapidly. The dust in the air was making his lungs hurt and his eyes water. At least the darkness from before had been in his head and not actually for real.

“Can you move a little bit back?”

“Sure,” Tony answered without hesitation, using his hands to push his heavy, aching body backwards. He eyed the beam like thing which had been on his chest, suppressing the urge to find a way to kick it or break it in half.

He took a deep breath, trying to gauge if he got cracked ribs but the aches were everywhere so he couldn’t be sure of anything right now. He figured his lungs were alright since he wasn’t wheezing or coughing up blood.

Looking around made him wish he hadn’t. Huge stone boulders were everywhere, trapping them in a cave of sorts which looked far from stable. There was sand constantly dripping from somewhere, giving the indication that any moment the whole shaky construct was going to come down on their heads, burying them alive. Not a happy outlook!

“Did a building land on top of us?” He asked, his incredulity very audible in his voice.

When he looked at his companion, all he got was one raised eye brow and an eye roll.

The green eyes were almost mesmerizing so he quickly looked away.

“What happened?” he asked again, eyes wide as he tried to find a way out. There was no obvious way to leave which had his lungs constricting. Was he claustrophobic? Were the walls slowly moving towards him?

“You don’t remember?”

“I wouldn’t be asking you if I did!” Tony replied with heat.

“Tony…”

He blinked. _Tony_. His name. He turned, staring at the other man again, noting the dust on his nose and the wrinkled, blood stained clothes.

“Who are you?” he asked. He frowned, wrecking his head, trying to decipher if he knew the man who’d rescued him or if he didn’t. But thinking hurt. Actually, strike that. Everything hurt. How one measly word, composed of four letters could be this inadequate and yet, so apt was beyond him.

Pale green eyes stared at him and Tony stared right back. There was something familiar about the angular, handsome face…about the vivid eyes, the dark hair but whatever it was, the notion came and went too quickly for him to hold onto.

“You don’t…” the stranger caught himself before saying more. Tony watched as he swallowed before he raised a hand to brush dust off his nose. “You told me your name,” he got as an answer. “We don’t really know each other.”

“Oh,” Tony answered. He couldn’t recall giving out his name but hey, he couldn’t even recall how a building had landed on top of them so maybe he should cut the other guy some slack. “Did I give you my last name?” Tony inquired which earned him yet another raised eye brow.

“No?”

“Oh,” Tony was disappointed now. “What’s your name then?” He asked. Fair was fair and besides, he figured the handsome man was going to object to being called _cutie_. He didn’t feel threatened by the guy but there was an aura of danger around him, so he figured, he should probably not poke at him.

Then again, apparently his rational thoughts were only _thoughts_ because his interaction between brain and mouth must’ve gotten damaged. “You’re cute.”

“Huh?”

Tony made a waving gesture with his hand. Stabs of pain shot through his body and he nearly fell forward.

“What happened?”

“A building fell on us,” the stranger answered.

“I figured,” Tony replied dryly. “But why aren’t we dead yet?”

“See that?” Cutie pointed at the shimmering surface above them which also provided the light source in their little cave.

_Cave_. He shivered. A dark image rose from the depths of his mind, making goose bumps breaking out all over his body. He wanted to curl up and hide but before he could figure out what it was all about, the memory almost literally burst into tiny sparkles, vanishing instantly.

“Yes?” he answered the question. He didn’t tilt his head backwards to look up since his neck hurt too. He just squinted which was enough.

“I’m using magic to keep the rest of the blasted building from literally landing on our heads.”

“Oh…” Tony observed. Magic was real. Alright then. “Can’t you just magic us out of here then?” He asked.

“If I could, don’t you think I would’ve done it by now?”

“But why?” Tony wanted to know, his mind whirling with questions. Apparently wanting answers, poking at things he should leave alone, was what he did. There was a tiny voice at the back of his mind trying to tell him to shut up, to stop poking at the tiger but he ignored it. His headache was too loud. There was no way any rational voice could overcome the hammer on his head.

“Why what?” was the tense answer, impatience showing loud and clear.

“If you have magic to hold the building up, why can’t you beam us out of here?”

“ _Beam_?” the handsome stranger inquired, crooking his head sideways.

“Yes,” Tony fought the urge to vigorously nod his head. Nothing good could come of it. “You know…pooofff…vanish…”

A heavy sigh was the only answer he got for a few seconds. “I see I’ve got to spell it out for you…”

“Yes,” Tony confirmed.

“Contrary to popular belief,” The guy went on to say, “Magic isn’t a quick fix. Shouldn’t you know this?”

Tony gaped, eyes wide.

“You need power from one source to power another,” The guy held up one hand to mimic one power source and then his other hand to show where it was supposed to go. “Energy can never be destroy,” he continued to say. “It can be modified, altered but it can never seize to exist.”

Tony nodded, regretting the action almost instantly. He knew this…this was familiar.

“So,” the guy continued. “If I’m using my powers to hold the building over our heads, where do you think I should find the energy to _beam_ me away? If I let go for just one second, the whole thing will come down on us and I can’t just snap my fingers and transport us somewhere else.”

“Could you take yourself somewhere?” Tony asked. “If you could, then you could go for help.”

Green eyes stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. “You would trust me to leave and to come back for you?” He asked, voice hoarse with an emotion Tony couldn’t name.

Was this a trick question? “Yes?” Tony offered up weakly. He didn’t know the man but if he could get out, then he should leave. The way he saw it, if they both stayed here, they would both end up dead eventually. And if the stranger could leave, then at least one of them would make it.

“I wouldn’t be able to keep the ceiling from landing on top of your head if I leave…”

“But you could transport yourself to safety if you leave me behind…”

Green eyes narrowed as if he was considering it. “I might,” he answered. “But there’s no way to know for sure because I’m not letting go of the magic to test the theory. I’d rather not be crushed if I’m wrong. So you’re stuck with me…”

Tony shrugged, his shoulder stinging and protesting loudly almost instantly.

“What do you suggest then?” Tony asked. “I’d rather be dead than sit down here, waiting for you to exhaust your energy so that the building can collapse on us. If that’s our only option, I’d say you try to leave and we see what happens.”

“Do you really have a death wish?”

“Why?” Tony answered helplessly. “I’m being logical here! There’s no point for both of us to end up dead and I’d rather be dead straight away than waiting for it to happen!”

The green eyed man gaped at him as if he had never seen him before. Then he started muttering in a language Tony couldn’t decipher.

“You can call me Loki,” the stranger offered.

“Luke?” Tony frowned.

“Fine,” Luke answered. “Call me Luke. Apparently your brains are more addled than I would’ve thought.”

“Eh?”

“L.O.K.I.” the guy pronounced every single syllable carefully as if he was talking to a toddler. “Not Luke, Loki!”

“Don’t bite my head off!” Tony shouted back, flinching immediately when more debris rained on top of them.

“Shhhh…” Loki hushed him. “I don’t think shouting is much appreciated…”

“I thought your force field was keeping us alive…”

“I can’t keep everything out,” Loki hissed. “Do you have any idea how many tons of concrete are on top of us?”

Tony blinked. “How big a building are we talking here?”

“Big…”

“Any people alive up there?”

Loki gave him a look.

“They’re all dead?” Tony almost whimpered. There was just something totally wrong with being trapped underneath a building, knowing countless dead people were squashed above them. He shivered.

“Don’t let your morbid fantasy run away with you,” Loki broke through his thoughts. “They evacuated the building. I don’t know if everyone made it but it isn’t as if the no one made it out.”

“Why are we here then?”

Loki gave him another look. “You are probably here because you were too stupid to leave…”

“Heh!”

“And I’m here because in a moment of even more stupidity, I didn’t want to be held responsible for you ending up dead.”

“Huh?”

“Did you damage your head?”

Tony stared at the guy, slowly narrowing his eyes. “I’ve had a building land on me,” Tony carefully spit out. “My head hurts as if someone is trying to drill a hole into it. So forgive me if I’m not as coherent as I normally am. Do we know each other?”

“No,” Loki’s answer came quickly. “You don’t know anything about me.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. Somehow he got the impression not the complete truth was spoken here but before he could live up to being stupid and ask more questions, the whole cave shook and more concrete started raining down on them.

“Watch out!” Loki shouted, hurling himself at him, pushing him out of the way. Tony grunted in pain but his hands clung to the slim man on top of him, rolling them both further sideways. Thankfully, neither one of them had waited a second longer because they missed the bid building block crashing down on them by a hair's breadth.

“We need to get out of here,” Tony mumbled, trying to ignore the heavy body on top of him. There must be something really, _really_ wrong with him if he actually liked the feeling of holding on to Loki.

“You think?” Came the snarky reply. “Let go of me.” The words were followed with the guy trying to wiggle out of the embrace, bony limbs digging into Tony’s body.

“Owwww…” he complained. “Stop moving.”

“Then let me go…”

Tony felt compelled to just cling tighter, letting one hand roam lower until he was able to squeeze the guy’s ass. The answering squeak had his ears ringing but his shit eating grin never left his face.

Loki scrambled off him, dusting off his clothes while glaring at him at full power. Somehow, the supposed menacing look on the handsome face only made him grin more.

“You’re insane.”

“I think,” Tony slowly said, batting his eyes lashes, “You can only recognize insanity if you’re familiar with it…”

“You…you…” Loki spluttered before he turned around, presenting him with his back.

Tony sniggered. But his amusement was short lived since their dire situation hadn’t changed.

If the building had already collapsed around them, then there could be a chance that they might be able to find craw spaces to claw their way to the surface. They couldn’t risk moving the broken pieces since there was no way to tell what broken beam was supporting what mass but he figured, their chances would be good if they could find a craw space. And considering how chunky some of those blocks were, they might be in luck. And if not, well, he’d rather die climbing towards freedom than sit down here and wait to be crushed.

“Do you think help is coming?” Tony asked while he slowly got to his feet. He wasn’t steady, everything was swaying around him and yes, dark spots were dancing in front of his eyes. But he couldn’t very well investigate while he was sitting down.

“I’m sure they’re looking for you,” Loki answered. “Do you remember anything?”

“No,” Tony answered quickly. He didn’t want to dwell on it because if he stared, then where would it end? If Loki hadn’t told him his name, he wouldn’t even know what he was called. Everything else he seemed to know, was kind of coming to him but if he tried, he couldn’t recall a single thing. Where was he? How old was he? Or something simple, what kind of coffee did he like?

This must be some sort of traumatic amnesia of sorts because he could remember how to walk, how to talk or what coffee was. It wasn’t as if he’d lost everything…he’d just forgotten who he was. But what could cause this? A building landing on top of him was traumatic but why would he block out who he was?

Or maybe, he was just really messed up and his brain had jumped on the chance to mess wit him further?

“Earth to Tony…” Loki was back, snapping his fingers in front of him. “Please don’t stand up if you’re about to fall down. I’d rather not break any bones by trying to catch you.”

“You would catch me?”

The questions earned him yet another glare. He couldn’t recall if those glares ever had been scary but they were rapidly loosing any effect and entering the realm of _cute_. It might be best if he kept those observations to himself but apparently, his filter had gotten removed when a building landed on top of him or maybe he’d never possessed one because the next words out of his mouth were, ”You’re really cute when you glare…you know that?”

Gaping was the only answer he got before the guy muttered a few more words in a foreign language. Tony didn’t need to understand to know he was being cursed.

“So you don’t know if anyone actually knows you’re here?” Loki asked.

Tony shrugged. “Does it matter?” He returned the question. “I obviously can’t do magic so even if someone knows I was here, they probably think I’m dead by now…”

“Hm…” Loki hummed. “You’re right. We need to get out of here ourselves.”

“I was thinking,” Tony announced.

“Please, don’t…”

“I was thinking,” Tony repeated. “If we can find a crawl space, we could try climbing out. You could let the building collapse behind us, focusing your magic on just us…just on where we are. Maybe you could start pushing a few blocks out of the way…we can’t be too far buried, right?”

“I don’t know…” Loki answered, looking unsure. “We were at the edge of the building. The tower was back there,” he was pointing behind him. “We were in the entrance hall so not too many floors fell on us but there’s no way of knowing…”

Tony wasn’t listening. The plan wasn’t a good plan, he was the first one to admit it but he’d rather move than be trapped, thank you very much. This way, they’d at least had a chance.

“Here,” Tony found a hole which looked promising enough. He stuck his head into it, squinting. “I think I might see light.”

“What do you think?”

He was dragged backwards, pushed aside before Loki stuck his head into the opening. Then the guy hummed. “Maybe,” he answered.

“Do you have a better plan?” Tony challenged, getting tired with all the negativity around him. Besides, he was rather exhausted. Every limb in his body was trying to melt to try and get away from the pain and his head might actually be the first body part to achieve it since there was simply no word in the English language to properly classify the level of pain he was currently in. _Drugs_ , he needed drugs. And the earlier they got out of here, the sooner he could find some.

“Fine,” Loki grumbled. “I’ll go first since I need to see where I should apply my magic. You need to stay close.”

“Yes, Sir!” Tony gave him a fake salute which earned him an eye roll.

“You always this amusing?”

“How would I know?”

Loki muttered again but then he heaved himself into the hole, crawling forward. Tony followed, trying to keep himself steady and moving by focusing on Loki’s ass. He needed something to think about which wasn’t pain related and the ass was definitely worthy of his consideration.

They hadn’t moved far when the ground shook. Tony flattened himself to the ground, curling up around Loki’s legs.

No words were spoken when they started moving again. Tony could hear Loki’s harsh breathing, wondering how much longer they guy could keep it up. He would ask but he figured there was no point. If Loki lost his magic, then they would be dead. Surely this was motivation enough for the guy to keep pushing himself. And if it wasn’t, it wasn’t as if Tony could do anything about it.

He was in some sort of a trance, putting one limb in front of the other, the ass long forgotten when suddenly he was grabbed, hauled forward.

He screamed, pain flaring up in places he hadn’t even known where affected.

“Can you please not give me ear damage,” Loki complained.

Tony was blinking rapidly, squinting at something very, very bright. Sunlight. Oh…oh! The stone finally dropped. “We’re out!” he whispered.

“Yes, what gave it away?” Loki drawled but despite his snarky remarks, he wasn’t moving either.

“You OK?” Tony asked, deciding to just stay on his back for now. It didn’t matter that it was highly uncomfortable. Nothing was about to collapse on them which was all that really mattered.

“Tired,” Loki grumbled. “Need to sleep or eat or both…”

Tony finally found the strength to sit up, taking stock of their surroundings. People were running around like crazy ants and no one was paying them any attention. There were screams and shouts in air, nearly droned out by helicopters, sirens and who knew what other sounds.

The air was heavy with dust, barely fit for breathing. “We should leave,” Tony observed.

“You leave,” Loki grumbled. “I’ll just stay here, wait for someone to find me. I’m sure they’ll find a way to blame me for the entire mess.”

“Blame you?” Tony asked, confused. “Why would they. It’s not as if you caused the building…” he looked around, amending his sentence. “Correction…it’s not as if you caused the buildings to collapse.”

“You really believe that?” There was a strange tone in Loki’s voice again which had Tony’s turning around again, staring at the handsome stranger. 

“Of course,” The answered evenly. “First of all, why would you want to destroy buildings?”

Loki’s mouth opened but Tony didn’t wait for an answer. “And second and third, even if you were some crazy super villain, I think you’ve proven you’re smart enough not to get caught in your own collapse…and then, why would you even bother with saving me? You could’ve just looked after yourself…”

Loki was still staring at him.

“What?” Tony was getting defensive now.

“You’re right,” Loki admitted, staring at him again as if Tony was some sort of alien. “I didn’t cause this. And I wouldn’t be stupid enough to nearly kill myself either.”

“Well,” Tony smiled at him. “There you go.”

“I don’t need a hospital,” Loki continued, green eyes travelling up and down Tony’s body. “But you do.”

“I don’t think so,” Tony shook his head.

“What?” Clearly Loki hadn’t expected Tony to decline his reasoning.

“I don’t know what that is,” Tony pointed at the cubic thing in his chest. “But I don’t think I want a doctor prodding at it.”

“But…”

“No,” Tony shook his head, regretting it almost instantly. “I don’t like hospitals.” He didn’t know where the knowledge was coming from but it was there. “Nothing good happens in hospitals. I don’t want to go there.”

The last bit sounded mulish, even to his ears.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re fine?” Loki replied, repeating the words with a hint of disbelieve. “You can’t keep your eyes straight. You don’t know who you are. You can’t even walk and you’re not breathing right. And you’re fine?”

“Yes?” Tony replied. What was it with the trick questions? “I’ve a few cracked ribs but I don’t think they’re broken because if they were, then I would be dead by now. And if I had internal bleeding, then I’m sure I would know about it by now, don’t you think so? So, apart from the gigantic house still sitting on my head, what I need is sleep and rest.”

Loki spluttered.

“You can either help me or not,” Tony decided, forcing himself to get up. “I’m sure I can find a nice spot to pass in all on my own. But I’d rather you come with me…”

Loki kept on staring. “You’re insane…you’re aware of that, right?”

Tony crooked his head, flinching slightly. “I’d rather call it being reasonable. There are obviously people around here who need medical attention a lot more than me. I’d rather just go to sleep.”

“You shouldn’t sleep with a concussion,” Loki pointed out.

“Then you can wake me up every hour or so…”

“You’ll probably need a head scan of sorts…”

“Can’t you use your magic on me?”

“I’m no healer,” Loki snapped. “The last time I tried to mend a bone, I snapped it in two. Do you really want me to mess with your head?”

“Errr...maybe not,” Tony admitted. “Look,” he added. “You’re either with me or not. But I’m done hanging around here and I won’t take away a hospital bed from someone who needs it. Unless you know who I am and where to drop me off, I’d say we get the hell out of here…”

Loki looked torn for a moment but he nodded in agreement. “Fine. I can’t very well drop you off because then I’d probably be dead so fine, let’s go…”

“What do you mean?” Tony reached out, grabbing Loki by the shoulder to keep him from leaving and to answer his question.

“I’d probably get blamed for your current condition…”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not a nice person and my brother always thinks I’m at fault.”

“But…”

“You coming or what?”

If put this way, Tony decided, he had no choice. He’d rather follow Loki than curl up somewhere by himself because a few people had already eyed him strangely and sooner or later someone was going to try and _help_ him. And he would really loose it if he ended up in a hospital. Just the thought had him breaking out in hives.

And whatever the glowy thing in his chest was, he figured he needed it to stay alive. Since it wasn’t a standard human organ, he probably shouldn’t have random strangers poking at it either. 

No, for now, it would be best to lie low…figure out what had happened…the rest of the world could wait.

Besides, surely he wasn’t anyone important...right? He’d know…Deep down he couldn’t shake the feeling no one would come looking for him because no one had ever bothered in the past.

He had no facts to back up his understanding, this sudden burst of knowledge, but he figure, the aching hole deep inside his chest where friends and family were supposed to be, was there for a reason.

No, he was alone and until he knew differently, he was going to act accordingly. Well, he wasn’t totally alone. He had green eyed stranger who might tempt him into an early grave just by breathing…


	2. Chapter 2

People brushed passed him, moving around like headless chickens which made it easier for them to hide in plain sight. Everyone was in a daze, running around in ragged, dirty clothes so two more people stumbling about as if they were on drugs, drew no attention at all.

But Tony was suspicious. Sooner or later one of those medics he kept seen moving about was going to approach him and he’d rather not. Why was he this suspicious of hospitals? Of entrusting his well being to others? There was more behind this than the _glowy_ thing in his chest…but hey, in the absence of his memory, all he had to go on was his instinct and until someone told him differently, with iron clad proof attached to it, he was going to stick to what his gut told him.

When Loki stumbled, nearly crashing down onto his knees, Tony tried to catch him. Both fell sideways, landing in a heap. Chocked laughter was the result.

“We need to find some place to sleep,” Loki mumbled.

“I need drugs,” Tony countered. His eyes settled on one of medical vehicles which was currently unattended. “Wait here,” he instructed.

Loki gave him a look but he didn’t comment which Tony figured was a clear sign of how exhausted the guy was. Flashing a wide grin at a few people who passed him, Tony ambled towards the ambulance. It was easier than he would’ve thought to gain access, heaving himself into the vehicle. Then he rummaged around the contents until he found what he was looking for.

He squinted, reading the name, nodding to himself. He had no clue how he recognize the pain medication but he was certain this was what he was holding. He grabbed a few syringes while he was at it, pocketing everything.

He was out of the ambulance in no time without anyone being the wiser. Now all they had to do was get out of the blast zone, war zone or whatever this place was. 

“Come on,” Tony kicked at Loki who’d sat down on the ground. “I’m going to find us a car.”

Loki gave the place a pointed look but Tony ignored him. Pain was a constant companion now and all he wanted was to find a hole to crawl in and pass out. With some good pain meds in his system, of course.

It didn’t take them as long as he would’ve thought to leave the carnage behind. No one was paying them any attention and once they’d left the restricted zone behind, Tony guided them into a back alley.

Loki slumped against the parked car in no time at all, looking as if he was about to pass out right there.

Tony’s tongue poked out as he chewed on his lower lip. He patted down his pockets, not finding anything small and sharp. Well, why would he be carrying what he needed anyway?

He then proceeded to look around until he found something he thought he could use. Picking open the lock was easier than he would’ve thought and once the wailing car alarm went off, he quickly hurled himself onto the seat, disabling the rest of it.

Thankfully, no one came running since alarms of any kind were still blaring in the distance. Theirs had probably gone unnoticed.

“Get in,” he barked at Loki who shuffled to the passenger door, more or less falling into the car. If the guy weren’t this obviously exhausted, he would’ve asked him to magic them someplace else. Clearly Loki wasn’t up to it if he couldn’t even keep his eyes open.

“Where do you live?” Tony asked, thinking if he lived nearby they could hole up there.

“Can’t get there,” Loki mumbled.

“Huh?”

“I usually teleport there,” Loki explained, eyes still closed. “Haven’t bothered checking what part of your world it is in. There was no need.”

Tony gaped, a biting remark on the tip of his lips but then he decided to let it go. Clearly the rules for magic users were a bit different.

“Motel then,” he declared. But how were they going to pay for it? 

Tony drove carefully since his vision was swimming and his reflexes were shot to hell but hey, he did manage not to crash into anyone and when a motel came into view, he pulled over. It was a rundown place but who cared?

He padded down his pockets again, finding a wallet. “Hey!” he exclaimed, happy at having found something. He opened it, and _yay_ there was money. And credit cards. And an ID! He pulled it out, staring at his driver’s licence. 

_Tony Stark_.

Well, at least Loki hadn’t lied about his name. But this was a Californian ID and even though he still had no clue where they were, this place didn’t look like sunny California to him.

 _Oh well_ , he decided, _at least he had a last name now._ One problem at a time, right?

“Wait here,” Tony instructed. Loki just grunted, not moving an inch. “Lazy bastard,” Tony grumbled.

Thankfully, the clerk was more interested in staring at the news broadcast than looking Tony over so he quickly filled out the necessary form, snatching the key out of the guy’s hand.

When he got back, he dragged Loki out of the car and together they more or less stumbled towards their room. Inserting the key card showed how much his hands shook but apparently he was a stubborn man since he wasn’t about to be defeated by a _lock_.

Once they were inside, Loki eyed the bed as if it was holy, stumbling towards it. Tony wanted nothing more than to just crumble too but he figured it would do him a world of good if he tried to clean his cuts and bruises. How he was going to manage such a near insurmountable feat he didn’t know, but he was going to try.

His tired eyes couldn’t locate the light switch so he left the door wide open. He toed off his shoes before fumbling with his zipper. Once he was done with his jeans and underwear, he dragged the shirt over his head. This was a lot more challenging than the trousers since lifting his arms hurt like hell. There might’ve been ripping fabric involved somewhere but he didn’t care.

Thankfully, the bathroom contained an actual shower stall and not a bathtub. If he had to actually climb to get clean, he would’ve probably smashed his head against the tiles and then where would he be?

He nearly did kill himself when he turned on the spray. The hot water came as a surprise. He yelped, feet moving before he realized what a fundamentally bad idea this was. 

“Yak!” He screamed again when hands came out of nowhere to steady him. 

“You really are trying to kill yourself,” Loki mumbled, stepping into the shower behind him.

“Not really, no,” Tony objected. Being naked in front of a stranger should’ve probably freaked him out but either he was too tired for such qualms or had no problems getting naked with strangers. Something told him it might be the latter.

“Don’t move,” Loki ordered.

Tony grumbled, not liking being given orders but since moving might actually end with him hitting the tiles head first, he figured he could make an exception.

Loki wasn’t much steadier on his feet but together they managed to clean off the dust and dirt until the water no longer ran bloody and grey. Loki was the first one out and Tony missed his hands almost immediately. Maybe being in this much pain was a good thing since otherwise he might’ve gotten hard and wouldn’t this be embarrassing? Or maybe not…what if the guy was interested? And what did it say about him that he was in this condition and he still managed to think about sex?

Tony didn’t much fancy getting into his dirty clothes but he made the effort to pull on his boxers. 

“Stay still,” Loki mumbled, waving his hands about. Suddenly, Tony’s boxers were clean, smelling of fresh mint and his jeans were back too.

“What the…?”

Seconds later, Loki was dressed in sweatpants and his dirty clothes had vanished.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Tony inquired, receiving a shrug as an answer.

“I can’t rest if I am filthy, now can I?” Loki challenged. “Besides, cleaning spells, drying spells and the like, aren’t hard. I could do them in my sleep.”

“What about food?” Tony moved on to the next topic.

“Food…” Loki echoed longingly.

There was only one bed but neither one of them cared. Loki slumped onto right side while Tony crawled onto the left one. He quickly retrieved the syringe and one of the bottles and when he was ready, he injected himself.

“Should I be worried that you know how to do this?” Loki asked, one eye brow raised in a silent question.

“Even if you should be worried,” Tony answered casually. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

“Hm…”

The drug was starting to take effect so Tony rolled over to his side, facing Loki. It was strange sharing a bed with him but Tony found he didn’t mind. Loki’s long lashes were dark shadows against his pale skin and Tony’s fingers practically itched to reach out and stroke them.

“Why are you staring at me?” Loki mumbled, voice barely audible since he was apparently on his merry way to falling asleep.

“Maybe because I like what I see?”

“You’re a freak…”

“Takes one to know one…” Tony countered.

More humming was his only answer.

Tony’s eyes eventually drifted shut. There was an almost pleasant buzz in his body, slowly spreading through his limbs. It didn’t quite dull out the pain but it managed to push it onto a backburner…kind of like a nagging feeling in the back of his head, trying to tell him he’d forgotten something important.

His limbs still ached, his shoulder was on fire and he could barely breathe since every movement his chest made, sent sparks of fire through his body. And he didn’t even want to get started on his head…but being suddenly wrapped in cotton was awesome and there was a soft smile playing across his face as he finally succumbed to sleep.

##

“What’s it…?” Tony mumbled when he opened his eyes.

“What’s what?” Loki asked.

“Hm?”

“You stared it!”

“Stared what?”

Tony was getting confused. He didn’t much like playing 20 questions when he was just waking up. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he had to blink a few times to have his brain translate what he was seeing.

His mind was still fuzzy, probably a sign from a nasty concussion. “You didn’t wake me up!” he accused Loki who didn’t seem fazed at all.

“I was sleeping…” The guy countered.

“But…”

“ _Sleeping_ ,” Loki repeated, levelling a meaningful look at him. “And you seem alright…so why worry about the past?”

Tony’s mouth opened and closed. He did have a point there.

“What’s the smell?” he chose to ask instead, carefully rearranging his limbs until he was sort of sitting, propping his back against the wall. Loki was in the same position but something smelling almost too good to be true was coming from his right side.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” The guy tried to deflect.

Tony narrowed his eyes, making a show out of sniffing the air. “No,” he insisted. “Something is smelling divine…hand it over.” His statement was backed up by making grabby hands.

Loki gave him a mutinous look. “Get your own waffles!”

“No,” Tony replied. He lifted his hand, playfully shoving at Loki.

“Fine,” the green eyed man relented, retrieving the plate he’d been hiding to put it onto his lap. “But don’t get used to it. I don’t like sharing my food.”

“How come?” Tony asked in between bites.

“Because there was never enough…”

“Your family was poor?”

“No,” Loki shook his head. “But my brother’s friends always thought it was funny to try and steal my food. And Thor…well, he’s always hungry. I don’t know what he was thinking but I learned pretty quickly to eat as fast as I can…”

“Couldn’t you make something in your kitchen?” Tony asked, licking his fingers. He didn’t want to waste anything.

Loki was staring at him, mouth slightly agape.

“What?” he asked, looking dazed, staring at Tony as he was working on cleaning finishing the job. No one liked sticky fingers…

Tony gave him a wink before he stopped.

“Kitchen…” he reminded Loki. “Couldn’t you just help yourself?”

“I tried at first,” Loki admitted. “But the staff lost patience with me eventually. Using magic always meant I used up a lot of my energy and the only way to replenish what was lost was through rest and food…”

“Is not very nice…” Tony commented. “But couldn’t you make it yourself then?”

Loki shook his head. “The one time I tried to sneak in and make my own food, the kitchen maid caught me and the lecture my father gave me on proper behaviour afterwards wasn’t something I was keen on repeating.”

“Oh…” Tony commented, unsure what else to say. Loki’s home sounded like a dreadful place.

“I made due,” Loki answered, shrugging. “I’m nothing if not adaptable…”

“You’re brother sounds like a tool, though,” Tony observed. “Didn’t he stop acting like an ass when he grew up?”

Loki snorted. “Some people never grow up,” he said almost philosophically.

Tony nodded thoughtfully. “I think you might be right.”

His belly was full so he lowered himself back down. He was adjusting himself so he could rest comfortably and it was a total accident that he ended up plastered against Loki’s side. When he was done, his cheek was pressed against Loki’s ribs and he’d flung an arm across the guy’s lap.

“I’m not to be cuddled,” Loki announced.

Tony ignored him, if anything, the comment only made him move in closer. He would’ve been perfectly fine where he’d been before but such a statement couldn’t be ignored. Instead of getting shoved, Loki placed a hand on Tony’s head and after a few seconds, gentle fingers started snaking through his hair.

“You’re not like I thought you would be…” Loki commented.

Tony hummed, too busy with falling asleep again so he could block out the pain to really notice what his companion had said.

Loud steps had Loki jumping off the bed, jostling Tony out of his comfortable position. “What the…?” Tony complained, glaring at Loki.

“Don’t tell them I was with you,” Loki hissed, eyes darting left and right, body poised for a fight.

“What?” Tony liked to think he normally wasn’t this slow on the uptake but apparently, right now he was. “What are you talking about?”

“Please,” Loki begged, green eyes wide and was there fear evident in them? Tony didn’t like the expression at all. “You’ll understand soon enough. But promise me, don’t tell them I was here or that we’ve met…for your own good…promise me!”

If there hadn’t been such an urgent tone in the guy’s voice, if he hadn’t looked like a deer about to be devoured by a nasty predator, then Tony would’ve refused. “I promise,” he said just before Loki vanished. Or at least he tried too because seconds later, he was back in the room.

“What are you doing?” Tony asked him with exasperation.

“Trying to teleport!”

“Why for crying out loud?” Tony demanded to know. “Come back to bed and conjure us some more waffles!”

“I can’t!” Loki was crouching down now, making himself smaller and smaller and when there was a loud knock on the door, he yipped like a dog who’d just gotten stomped on his tail before he scrunched his eyes shut. This time, when he vanished again, he stayed gone.

“Loki!” Tony whispered, having the smarts not to shout the name but there was no reply.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in his panic, Tony jerked back.

“Ngh…” he protested, squeezing his eyes shut as his body went up in flames. Maybe he shouldn’t have protested going to a hospital this much but he was still fairly certain there was nothing wrong with him which couldn’t be cured by a few days in bed. And some good drugs…he liked drugs… _hm_ …

“Tony!”

“Stark!”

Hands grabbed him, trying to pull him off the bed. His eyes snapped open again as he tried to shove the hands off him. “Let me go!” he yelled, balling his fingers into a tight fist before he lashed out. The tall blond guy stumbled backwards, looking put off.

The dark haired guy took a step back, looking wary.

Tony was breathing heavily now as more men and one woman flittered into the room. Was there a convention in town?

The guy he’d slugged was wearing a strange outfit and the dark haired guy was clad only in sweatpants. Tall, broad shouldered second blond guy was carrying a huge hammer around with him and the other man had a cross bow flung over his shoulder. The woman was wearing an outfit which left nothing to imagination and if Tony were up for it, he would probably be drooling.

“Invasion?” he tried somewhat helplessly. Making a joke seemed appropriate since nothing else came to mind.

“How much of these did you take?” Dark haired guy was holding up the used syringe and the bottle.

“One?”

“Why didn’t you call in?”

“Why are you here?”

“You should be in a hospital!”

“Why are you without your suit!”

“Have you lost your mind?”

Tony looked left and right and left again. His head was swimming. Too much was going on for him to process. He raised a hand, rubbing at his temples. “Who are you?” he asked instead.

“Do you think this is funny?” Tall, blond guy in strange outfit hissed. “I know your idea of jokes are somewhat an acquired taste but I would’ve thought even you know better than to make fun of something like this!”

Tony stopped rubbing his head, lowering his hand. “I don’t care for your tone,” he snapped. “If you got nothing else to say, leave.” Then he eyed the other. “I don’t know who you are but if you’re only here to yell at me, come back another time!” The last bit he shouted. “My head hurts,” he mumbled again, slumping somewhat on the bed.

Silence reigned for a little while. Tony had almost persuaded himself he’d dreamt the whole invasion when the bed suddenly dipped. He forced one eye to open again to find the dark haired stranger sitting beside him.

“We’re your friends…”

“Banner,” The tall, irritating blond interrupted but _Banner_ simply waved at him, shutting him up.

Quietly Tony applauded.

“What do you remember?” Banner asked quietly. His demeanour was professional, giving Tony the impression he might be medically trained. Maybe he was a doctor? _Would be good_ , he mused, _he could use some more prescribed meds right about now._

“Not much,” Tony admitted. “I woke buried underneath a freaking building…!”

“Tony…” the woman injected but was shushed by the guy with the crossbow.

“How did you get out?”

Tony shrugged before he remembered it was a bad idea. “Owwww…” he complained, using his hand again to rub at his shoulder. “I crawled through the rubble,” he said easily, honouring the promise he’d given Loki. “I thought the rest was going to come down on my head any time soon so I figured, might just as well try clawing my way free…nothing to lose, right?”

“Why didn’t you go to a medic then?” Tall and annoying asked.

Tony glared at him. “Don’t like hospitals.”

“You don’t know who you are but you know you don’t like hospitals?” the tone implied the tall guy didn’t believe him.

Tony’s glare hardened. “I don’t like people prodding at me,” he hissed. “And I don’t need to explain myself to you. I’m perfectly fine. I’ve got things under control.” Or at least he had until Loki had been forced to vanish. What was up with that anyway?

“Tony,” Banner drew him to his side again, nearly blinding him with a light.

“Hey!” he protested.

“Your pupils are dilating fine but they’re a bit uneven,” he concluded out loud. “How bad, on a scale of 1 to 10 is your headache?”

“20?”

“Sit up…”

Tony grumbled but he did as he’d been told. More prodding and hissing followed as Banner poked at his ribs.

“Nothing’s broken,” he concluded. “But I think you’ve got a few cracked ribs there. A strong bandage keeping them in place, making sure they don’t shift further would probably alleviate some of the pain…and I think your shoulder will need an x-ray. Can you lift your arms?”

“I can,” Tony declared. “But I’d rather not.”

“Show me.”

“Do I have to?”

A silent, patient glare was all he got so Tony did as he had been told. He hadn’t lied. He could lift his arms but he couldn’t hold them up because it hurt way too much.

“Good, good…probably just some muscle tearing…but I’d feel a lot better if we could it x-rayed…I’d like to do a brain scan…”

“Not going to a hospital…”

“You don’t have to.” Banner said, pulling back. “I’ve got what I need in my lab…”

“Lab?”

“So he isn’t joking?” Tall and annoying asked.

“No,” Banner addressed him with a disapproving note. “Even Tony wouldn’t vanish on us to just play a prank, Steve.”

 _Steve_. Tall, annoying and clothing challenged had a name!

“What are you wearing?” Tony couldn’t help himself. “You forgot how to dress this morning? And what’s with the weaponry? You’re part of some sort of medieval circus?” a horrific thought occurred to him. His tone was strained, very panicked, as he added. “I’m not part of a circus, am I?”

“No, Stark. You’re pain in my ass but you’re not part of a circus…”

“Depends who you’re asking,” Banner mumbled.

“Eh?”

“Nothing,” Banner replied with an angelic face. “Come on, let’s get you out of here and back home…”

“I live here?” Tony asked suspiciously. “My driver’s licence says otherwise…”

“And I supposed people never move, do they?” Steve countered, still with the attitude. “You’ve got a mansion in California but right now, you’re living here. As a matter of fact, you’ve been kind enough to put all of us up.”

Tony blinked.

“I’m rich then?”

“Very,” Banner chuckled. 

“What’s wrong with you then?” Tony asked Steve, eyes slightly narrowing as he spoke. “What’s with the attitude? If you’re living underneath my roof, why you’re acting as if I’m a thorn in your side?”

“Tony…” Steve looked horrified now, face paling somewhat. “I apologize,” he said quickly. “I thought you’d died and when Jarvis notified us that you booked a room here, I didn’t know what to think…”

“So your default setting was to get angry at me?” Tony challenged.

“Men!” the dark haired woman declared, taking a step closer. “Tony,” She said carefully. “We can discuss all of this later. For now, don’t you want to see where you live? Don’t you want to get comfortable? Bruce here can fix you up.”

“No hospitals?”

“Promise,” she nodded and Tony believed her.

“Fine,” he grumbled, shifting his legs. Getting up was harder than he thought it would be and if Bruce hadn’t been there to put a steadying arm around him, he would’ve probably crashed. Accepting help apparently wasn’t easy for him since his only acknowledgement of the offer was to not put up any protest.

“I will carry him,” the broad shouldered blond guy who hadn’t said a word yet, suddenly declared.

“I can walk,” Tony immediately refused the offer.

“Maybe you should…” Steve had apparently gotten over being angry with him because now he was hovering.

“No.”

His wishes fell on deaf ears. With a somewhat unmanly squawk of protest, he was suddenly in the broad guy’s arms, being carried bridal style.

“I can walk,” he insisted, trying to wriggle free.

“If I drop you, our friends will be cross with me…” the guy said it with such an earnest voice that it stalled Tony’s movements. While he was pondering if he should suffer the indignity or fight, they’d already reached the van.

The sun light hurt his eyes, even through his closed lids and when the door finally closed, his head was throbbing like it hadn’t done in hours.

“Tony?” someone asked him and when his name was being repeated, he could hear the worry in it but he couldn’t move. Darkness claimed him yet again.

##

There was a sea of voices around him. Up until now he’d thought this was just a figure of speech but he could practically feel the spoken words crashing around him like waves.

He was comfortable though. The pain was dulled, the mattress was soft so all was alright in his book.

“He’s a lucky son of a bitch.”

Tony could hear Banner’s voice drifting through to him but he wasn’t really paying him any heed.

“How is he lucky?” There was another female voice in the mix. _Curious_. “A building fell on him!”

“And he came away with a few cracked ribs, an injured shoulder and a concussion. I would consider that as lucky.”

Tony found he agreed. And he even knew luck by his name: Loki.

“Why are you all arguing in my bedroom?” he growled, deciding there was no point in trying to float in darkness when people were making such a ruckus.

“Tony!” 

His eyes widened when a blond woman tried to launch herself at him. She barely managed to abort the movement before actually crushing him to death with a well intentioned hug.

He eyed her warily while she practically beamed at him.

“Who were you talking to?”

“Huh?” Now Tony was confused, eyes darting from one person to the other.

“How about you tell me who you guys are, why you are in what is probably my bedroom and what the fuck is going on?”

“Tony,” the woman admonished him. He glared.

“I’m Pepper, your assistant and friend,” She introduced herself. Tony narrowed his eyes, giving her the once over. She seemed to be very familiar with him, the way her hand had come to rest over his own only proved it. She was more than an assistant. Friend, certainly, maybe even lover…

“Bruce is your doctor for now,” she used her head to point at the dark haired guy. Tony had already deduced this much but it was good to get confirmation. “Steve’s gone to debrief Fury…”

“He’s the clothing challenged one with the attitude, right?”

“He was just worried,” Bruce injected, taking a step forward. “It’s how he shows he cares…”

Tony huffed, choosing to ignore the statement.

“Natasha and Clint went with him…” Pepper continued and Tony did a mental count in his head. Natasha was obviously the gorgeous woman in the brilliantly indecent outfit and Clint could then only be the guy with the crossbow or the guy with the hammer. He was leaning towards crossbow guy since the hammer guy was currently leaning against the wall. Sans hammer but still, Tony wasn’t going to forget the guy who carried him around any time soon.

“And this is Thor…”

Tony’s eyes snapped back to the blond guy, widening slightly. _Thor_. Loki’s brother who stolen his food, whose friends had stolen his food and who, apparently, had made Loki’s life quite miserable. He didn’t look like an ass but he did look as if he had 200% of self confidence. When their eyes met, Tony was startled by the deep blue colour but instead of the expected _entitlement_ , he saw nothing but compassion and maybe an undertone of sadness.

He didn’t want to belittle Loki’s impression of his brother but maybe the truth was going to be found somewhere in between. If Thor was the callus guy Loki had described, then he wouldn’t have carried him, then he wouldn’t have worried about Tony’s well being so either Loki was delusional or Thor had changed.

He didn’t know anything about sibling rivalry but he was pretty certain family was always the last one to notice any change. Hell, until his dying day, his father had barely noticed Tony was alive so he knew something about _that_.

“And you’re Iron Man.”

“Huh? I’m what?”

“It’s a long story,” Pepper continued, “But basically you’re part of a team who tries to keep peace in the world. All of you have special talents.”

“And I’m made of iron?” Tony asked incredulously. He didn’t feel as if he was made out of metal.

“No, you idiot,” Pepper countered with a smile. “You built a suit which can fly…just here…” She shoved a tablet at him. “Google your name and Iron Man.”

“You should rest,” Bruce injected. “I know, you won’t take my advise for long but for the next few hours, please try not to move.”

Tony shrugged. He made no promises though.

“Now, who were you talking to?”

“What?” Tony’s head snapped up. Why were people this distracting?

“In the motel room,” Bruce continued. “We could hear voices. You were talking to someone and yet, when we got there, you were alone.”

“Maybe I was talking to myself?” Tony offered.

“No, you weren’t.” Steve was back with attitude. He was followed by a black guy who was trying to stare holes into Tony’s skull.

“I like talking to myself!” Tony insisted, getting the feeling his game was up but he wasn’t going to yield unless they made him.

“Then you how to explain these, Stark?” the stranger asked, approaching his bed to drop a few photographs onto his lap.

Tony grabbed them, holding them up. The photos weren’t good, the camera was clearly awful but there was no way to mistake him and Loki staggering towards the motel room. Apparently, the blasted place had cameras. And why were they checking up on him anyway?

“What is it to you?” Tony snapped, dropping the pictures.

Thor had a rather curious expression on his face when he picked up the pictures. Was there longing in his gaze when he stared at his brother? Tony looked away, not sure how to deal with filial issues. He’d barely survived his own screwed up family. He wasn’t about to try and understand someone else’s problems.

“What were you doing with Loki?” the still nameless guy asked again.

“Who the hell are you?” Tony countered.

“Nick Fury,” Fury answered, and to life up to his name, he turned up the heat in his glare. _Clearly they didn’t get along_ , Tony thought.

“My brother was there?” Thor asked and Tony answered only because Thor had asked and was sprouting a curious, kicked puppy look.

Since Tony didn’t do well with being backed into a corner, he went on the offensive. “Did you honestly think I survived a building landing on top of me without some help?” he challenged. “How stupid are you?”

“There is no need,” Pepper tried to inject but Tony ignored her.

“He created a save zone around the two of us,” he went on with heat. “Without his magic, I’d be dead!”

“He must’ve nearly exhausted himself to keep you both alive,” Thor commented thoughtfully, still staring at his brother’s picture. “He looks very exhausted.”

Tony nodded.

“This does not explain why you were consorting with a known villain…” Fury went on to say.

“Get out,” Tony snarled. “I don’t care who you are. This is my home and I’d like you to leave now…”

“Now, listen here Stark…”

“I might not remember who I am,” Tony went on to say, almost shouting. “But I still know when someone is full off bullshit. Get out.”

“You have no clearance…”

“Sir,” a voice out of nowhere said and Tony nearly jumped out of his skin. “I have called security. Do you need me to escort anyone else from the building?”

Tony got over his surprise quickly, deciding he could freak out about the disembodied voice later.

“No, Fury isn’t allowed back in. And you,” he was now pointing at Steve. “If you piss me off further, I’ll throw you out the window.”

_Throw you out the window…_

He blinked. This sounded familiar and his gaze flickered towards where he assumed his living room. Did he actually fall out of a window once?

“You are choosing…” Fury tried again.

“I’m not choosing anything!” Tony was now shouting, propping himself further up in the bed. “Right now, consider me Switzerland…” he made some vague motions with his hands. “Until I know what’s going on, I won’t pick any side…right now, you’re being an ass and your so called villain saved my ass. So if I were you, I’d pick my next actions carefully…”

Without any further words, Fury turned around, his back completely straight. Tony wondered if he’d somehow swallowed a broom or had it shoved up his ass for effect.

“Anyone else have an opinion?” He glared at everyone else in the room but he only got silence as an answer. “Good,” his voice lowered. “I would like to sleep now.”

Then, to prove his point, he slumped down on the bed, closing his point. For a few seconds, he couldn’t hear anything but then the retreating steps told him he was getting his wish.

Waking up with amnesia was bad enough. When you couldn’t even trust your so called friends and their judgment, well, then you were royally screwed. Something though told Tony that he was no stranger to walking a lonely path and he’d be dammed if he let himself be corralled into an opinion he didn’t share. He wasn’t about to choose Loki over people who seemed to be in his life but he also wasn’t going to take their word on anything unless it was backed up with proof.

And there was one fact which currently triumphed over anything else: Loki had saved his life out of his own free will and he had continued to look out for him even if he didn’t have to.

Sure, he’d been exhausted. He probably wouldn’t have been able to walk away but if he had really wanted to, he could’ve probably found a way to leave Tony behind. And he hadn’t…and this, this little fact counted for a lot. At least in Tony’s book.

He was going to give Loki the benefit of a doubt. And once he had all the facts, he was going to make up his own mind. Like always.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! This update is a short one but better than nothing I hope! Thank you so much for all the feedback and the kudos! I appreciate all of your support! Thank you! :)

When he woke up again, he felt marginally better. Sure, his shoulder hurt like hell but he figured as long as he didn’t try and lift his arm or tried to do any acrobatics, he would be fine. The headache wasn’t a full on sledgehammer party either anymore; now it was reduced to being mildly annoying. Like a distant thump of a loud drum, always present, always on his mind but never really loud enough to warrant bashing his head against the wall to shut himself up.

Uhm...maybe he shouldn’t be eyeing the wall anyway...he slowly inched out of the bedroom, wary of the bloody wall. He snagged the first tablet he could find, flopping down on the sofa. If he thought long and hard about it, he had no clue how to turn it on or what made it tick but if he let things go, then everything just fell into place.

A few hours later, his head was reeling with all the information he’d managed to download. His next step had been _hacking_ into less publicly available information, a skill which apparently not even a knock to the head could deprive him off. Sure, how he’d done it, he didn’t know. But once the urge had been there, he’d opened up the programme, started laying out code over code and voila, nothing could keep him out for long!

Anyway, it was clear why Loki had been so skittish. Had he escaped? Was he on the run? Nothing in SHIELDs documents gave anything away. The last entry had Thor dragging his brother away to Asgard to face judgement and...well, stuff must’ve happened, right? Since Thor was here...He clearly recalled seeing the guy with the hammer and as much as he wanted to deny it, the _being carried like a damsel in distress episode_ had happened.

Wait...a thought occurred to Tony. An organisation like SHIELD surely would have a most wanted list or something similar. So after a few more moments of poking around, he found said list which was conspicuously empty of the name Loki. It did list the trickster as a person of interest in regards to the recent attack but this wasn’t quite the same. So Loki wasn’t wanted for the crime of trying to take over the world anymore?

Should Tony be upset about this? He crooked his head, trying to listen to his heart, trying to gauge his feelings. Was he upset or angry with Loki? Did he want the guy dead?

No feeling of animosity was forthcoming. Huh...he thought. Whenever he thought about the one eyed guy with the apt name of Fury, he definitely felt something...and the feeling wasn’t a nice one. And yet, there was the supposed super villain named Loki, responsible for quite a lot of destruction, according to the Internet and to SHIELD documents, and all Tony could muster was a feeling of interest and a stirring of a different kind.

Oh well, he pushed those thoughts away. He wasn’t the most introspective guy and if he wanted to, he could probably give himself a headache trying to figure out his own emotions. Better to go with the flow and make up his mind as new evidence presented itself.

He was supposed to be a genius. _Iron Man. Weapons Manufacturer-retired. Billionaire. Asshole. Smart. Holding various degrees in disciplines Tony had a hard time pronouncing..._ To say he was intimidated by himself might be apt but Tony wasn’t one to admit to such a weakness, not in public and most certainly not in the privacy of his own mind.

So the only way to proof to himself that he could still be smart, even while he had no clue what he was doing, was to go and do something drastic an amazing. Having thus made up his mind, he set out to locate his lab. Had to be around here somewhere, right?

##

_Blink...blink..._

The display field was mocking him.

He stared it down. He wasn't backing down either. Squinting, he moved closer until his nose bumped against the display. When he moved back, he slowly raised his hand, fingers twitching. He took a deep breath and then, then he let instinct again take over.

_Type...type..._

_Access granted._

A retina scan and thumb imprint later, the glass door whooshed open. He let out a little whoop of joy and marched right through it.

“I could have easily given you access, Sir.” Jarvis announced, startling Tony. He’d totally forgotten the so called butler existed.

“Thank you,” he replied. “But I’d rather figure out my own security.”

“Just saying, Sir,” Jarvis insisted. “If you run into any troubles, have any questions, just speak and I will answer.”

 _Creepy_ , Tony thought, making a mental note to look into Jarvis and his access. What if he wanted to jerk off in the shower or bring someone home? Would his AI be able to see everything? Even without so called human emotions, it was still a bit disconcerting to be constantly observed. But he wasn’t going to start messing with things until he knew what he was doing. Or at least, he amended quietly, until he thought he’d know what he was doing. And Jarvis had been quite useful in getting Fury out of the building.

“Owww...”

A sharp prick on the sole of his right foot had him pause, looking down to consider the floor he was currently walking on. It wasn’t necessarily dirty but it wasn’t clean either. Discarded metal pieces, shards of glass and other unidentifiable objects were everywhere and he was probably risking the safety of his limbs if he proceeded without any protection for his feet. He paused, looking around until his eyes fell on some discarded boots back at the entrance. He back tracked, quickly stepping into the wide, well used shoes. He still hadn’t bothered with a shirt so he was dressed in only his sweatpants and his boots but this was his home, who cared if he was running around in next to nothing? Hell, if he wanted too, he could probably work butt naked. Well, naked but with his boots on...the image alone had him smiling.

He shook his head at his own stupidity. Carefully he made his way around the lab or work shop which was bigger and more advanced than he could’ve ever imagined.

_Wwwrrrrrr...chirrrpppp...whrrrrrrrr_

Something come out of nowhere, poking him in the ass.

“What the...?” he whirled around, ready to fight whoever had dared to touch him there. His eyes widened when he found the culprit click clacking a metal arm at him.

“Uhm...hello?”

More strange chirping and what could only be described as an attempt to hug him followed. Seconds later, before he had the time to process what he was seeing, a second robot appeared, mowing the first one over, pushing him out of the way. Then he was assaulted one more time with more chirping and hug attempts.

“Uhm...guys? Careful please...”

“Sir, I believe Dummy and Butterfingers are only trying to show their appreciation for your save return...”

“If you say so,” Tony mumbled, giving the two robots a wide berth. The one called Dummy let out a whine and started to follow him. When Tony sat down on what he would call his station, Dummy took up a parking position next to him, chirping again. Tony decided to ignore him. Or was Dummy an it? So confusing...

Immersing himself in his own files, notes and confused writing was both a thrill and scary. At first, he let himself be distracted by trying to actively think about what he was reading, trying to make sense of it all and nothing came to him. The words, the equations, the schematics – everything turned into gibberish. The fright, the notion that he’d lost everything which made him Tony Stark sent him into a panic which had him nearly falling off the chair, sliding under the table and curling in on himself.

Then Dummy chirped at him, poked at him and when Tony looked up back up, the Chinese was gone. Getting to work then, letting his mind do all the talking, just allowing his instinct to flow was liberating and hours later, when he took a step back, he’d actually put down a very interesting and scarily plausible idea.

The only problem was he couldn’t do this on his own. There was a key ingredient missing and even then, this might never work. But without Loki, he would never know.

##

“Can I come in?”

Tony startled, sending a glare skywards. “Jarvis?” he asked his AI. “I thought you were supposed to let me know if someone was coming?”

“You did not lock the door behind you. The door lock did not engage.”

Tony looked sideways and yes, the bloody door was wide open. A shoe was pressed against it.

“Who put the shoe there?”

_Wrrrrr...chirp..._

Tony glared at Dummy. Why the hell had the challenged robot put a shoe in the door?

“Sir,” Jarvis startled him again. When was he going to get used to having someone speaking to him out of thin air? “I believe Dummy wanted to ensure you did not lock yourself in. He was only looking out for you.”

Tony sent a glare towards the robot who managed to look innocent and smug at the same time.

“Tony?” Steve’s voice drew him back to his guest.

“What do you want?” Maybe he was being a bit impolite but he didn’t care.

“Can I talk to you for a few minutes?”

“Aren’t you already talking?”

Steve looked torn between giving him a smart comeback and letting it go. Option C must’ve won out because the blond man simply moved forward until he leaned against Tony’s workbench.

“I’m your friend...”

Tony opened his mouth but in an uncharacteristic fit of rudeness, Steve mowed over him. “No, let me finished,” he said. “I am your friend,” he repeated. “Even if you don’t remember it. I know something about waking up in a strange place so let me give you one advice. Think before acting.”

“What?” Tony was puzzled. What did Steve mean?

“Right now, you don’t know me. You don’t know any of your friends or team mates and you don’t know Loki either.”

“Steve...” Tony warned. He wasn’t in the mood for hearing anything bad about Loki. Sure, the guy had a history but from what he’d been able to gather, he was no saint either.

“No,” Steve insisted. “I want you to promise me that you think things through before you make a decision. You don’t have to ask me or Pepper, just consider that you are making decisions while flying blind. You don’t have all the facts and that is a fact.”

Steve gave him a meaningful glare. As much as Tony wanted to refute what the Captain was saying, he did slowly being to see his point. His instinct had carried him this far but unless he recovered all of his memories soon, he was going to be forced to make decisions without having all the background information available. It was only prudent to use a bit of caution.

“I promise then. I can’t promise though that I will talk to any of you before making a decision but I will think about things before committing to them.”

“This is all I’m asking. And Tony?”

Steve had already pushed himself off the work bench when he stopped, turning sideways again to look at him. “I am your friend, even if you don’t know it and even if we got off on a rocky start. If you need anything, you can come to me at any time.”

“Thanks, I guess...” Tony offered somewhat weakly. Right now, his instinct was deserting him. He could tell, Steve was sincere but his gut wasn’t confirming or denying the statement. Still, the advice had been a good one.

“Don’t forget to eat,” was the last thing Steve said before he kicked the shoe out of the way and closed the door on his way out. Tony could hear the locking mechanism engaging almost immediately.

“I thought he’d never leave.”

Tony nearly jumped out of his skin for the second time in five minutes.

“Ack...” he exclaimed. “Do you need a bell? Please say yes!” he begged as he turned around, coming face to face with a smirking Loki. “I’d love nothing more than to put a bell on you. Something big, shiny and with a red ribbon! You’d look so dashing!”

“Try it,” Loki challenged. “I bet you wouldn’t like my retaliation...” This was uttered so casually it gave Tony pause. Maybe later...

“I have a proposition for you,” Tony changed the topic. It was his turn now to smirk and he was rewarded with a curious and slightly wary look on Loki’s part.

“I am listening,” was all the Trickster said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long! I hope anyone is still reading this!

“You are insane,” Loki said, giving Tony a look which was both parts exasperation and amazement.

Tony decided not to question why the guy was this happy while telling him he was short a few screws loose.

“No, no,” he hurried to say. “This is genius. Look,” he gestured with his hands until the awesome display flickered to life in front of him. Wasn’t technology great? And no, he wasn’t going to talk about how he’d squawked the first time he’d discovered it. This was between him and his bots, no one else needed to know about it.

“If it hadn’t been for you, I would be dead.”

Loki grunted. This was the only sound he made so Tony decided it was an encouragement to keep going.

“I designed this forcefield bracelet to work on anyone wearing it. See, the motions you make with your hand, will keep it power up. But it isn’t really able to generate much energy. It might stop a bullet once or twice but it would never be strong enough to safe anyone like you did.”

“Of course not,” Loki drawled. “I used magic. I...”

“Exactly. So I need to enhance my design with magic. And I need you to tell me about it.”

Loki stared. “What makes you think your science will work with magic? What makes you think you can combine the two?”

“Pfff,” Tony waved at him. “I will have to calibrate for interference, of course I will, but it’s like working with anything else new or foreign. You tweak it and then you’ll fix it.”

“And you know this how?” Loki was now staring at him. Tony tried really hard not to shuffle his feet as if he was intimidated or worried. “It’s not as if you can actually remember what you had for breakfast two days ago.”

“Can you?” Tony challenge. “Can you honestly tell me what you ate for breakfast two days ago?”

When Loki stayed silent, he pressed his point. “I just know, all right?” Then he tapped at the side of his head. “I might not be able to consciously recall things, but over the last hours I’ve discovered that what I need is there. As long as I don’t try to think about things, they will come to me.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “You know how this sounds, right?”

Tony shrugged. “It’s still true. I had this idea in the back of my head. At first, I didn’t know what to do but when I let things go, hours passed and I was able to come up with this.”

He waved at the design still hovering between them. “But I can’t complete it without your input. Will you help me?”

Instead of answering straight away, Loki kept on staring at him. “You know who I am now? You looked me up?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I know all I need to know. You saved my life even though you didn’t have to. The rest is water under the bridge for me.”

“How can you...?”

Tony didn’t let him finish. “Did you look me up too?”

Here he got a puzzled look. Tony took this as a no. “I googled myself you know. Apparently I’m quite a hero.” The last word were accompanied by question marks.

Loki’s frown deepened.

“Oh, please,” Tony closed the design in favour of pulling up his life’s resume according to the website. There was one site which delighted in detailing his life since his birth. It was both very helpful and very disturbing.

“Apparently I fuck everything in sight, don’t give a crap about people, have shit loads of money and am a terror to be around. But, since I am brilliant, people love me. Even if I used to be an arms dealer with the nickname merchant of death.”

When Loki stayed silent, his eyes glued to the display field, Tony turned it off. “The point is, you are no longer a wanted criminal. I don’t know what deal was cut, what punishment was handed out, but you’re obviously free to come and go as you please.”

“I...” Loki hesitated, his eyes locking with Tony’s before he looked away. Cleary this was an uncomfortable subject. “Time works different in some places. I was punished. When enough time had passed, Odin deemed me sorry enough. I am allowed to come and go as I please but...”

“You’d rather not be caught right handed at the site of an explosion, just in case...” Tony finished the sentence, thinking back how skittish Loki had been, how terrified of being discovered.

“Was it horrible then? You punishment?” Tony couldn’t be sure but from what he’d seen of Thor so far, he doubted the big guy would’ve let much harm to his sibling. Then again, what the hell did Tony know?

“It was not pleasant.” This was the only explanation Loki seemed willing to give.

“Well,” Tony drew out the word. “Will you help me then in augmenting my shield device? It could safe countless lives...”

“You’ll never be able to sell it...”

“Hm?”

“If I help you, you’ll only be able to make a few of those because I will be the one who has to infuse it with magic. I know you like to make money so you need to know, you won’t be able to sell this...”

“Bah!” Tony waved him off. “Not caring about money. Have you seen my bank account? JARVIS kindly showed me when asked. There’s a truly impressive figure there and I’m told, this isn’t even half of what I’m actually worth. No, this is for the team.”

“You remember them then?” There was an odd tone in Loki’s voice which told Tony to tread carefully.

“No,” Tony went with the truth. “But the Internet says I’m a part of this Avenger Initiative. And if it hadn’t been for you, I would be dust right now. I might not be able to protect everyone but if I can, why shouldn’t I protect myself and the people I work with?”

Loki’s mouth opened but no words came out. Cleary, if put this way, he had no choice but to follow Tony’s superior logic. “So,” Tony asked. “Can you, and will you, help me get this to work?”

“Yes,” Loki answered. When Tony broke out into a wide grin of pure delight, Loki raised a hand. “But...” Of course there would have to be a _but_. Tony refused to be saddened by this. Whatever it was, they would work around it. Something told him he could be a rather persistent bastard if he wanted to be.

“My magic comes from within me. It’s part Aesir and part Jotun. Aesir because this is where I trained, so I’m more familiar with how magic works for them. And Jotun, because this is who I am.”

Tony nodded. He had no clue what Loki was talking about. He was just waiting for him to get to the point.

“I can manipulate the air, start fires...shift shape if I really want to but I don’t really know how to infuse my magic into an inanimate object.”

“Oh.” This was a drawback Tony hadn’t anticipated. Thinking about it now though, he had to admit he should’ve seen it coming. It might not be the same thing but he assumed it would be similar to him building a car to knowing how to drive one. One could easily build something but just because you did that, didn’t mean you know how to operate it too. And he could easily see why Loki had never seen any point in learning how to use magic to infuse it into objects. There had been no need.

“But I can learn. There are books on Asgard which can help. All buildings there are infused with magic. There are wards linked to hallways, to certain objects...those magical bindings have been in place for a very long time but our library is vast. I’m sure I can find notes there...learn how they did it.”

“Alright,” Tony decided. “Give me five minutes and then I’m good to go.”

“What?”

Tony frowned. What was the problem now? “I don’t need long to pack. Just some tablets and...”

“You’re not coming with me.”

“Of course I am,” Tony swatted Loki over the head. He ignored the glare he received in return. “You don’t know the first thing about science. Do you want to continuously run back and forth? We need to align my design with magic. This will take a few test runs and a lot of work on both our sides. Do you really want to complicate things by having to travel back and forth all the time? Or...” Tony thought quickly on his feet. “Could you bring the books here?”

Loki’s face told him the answer.

“Well then,” Tony decided, pressing a few buttons to shut everything down. “I’m going with you then. No other choice. How are we going to get there?”

The moment the words had left his mouth, the moment Tony realized he knew the word associated with travelling between words, the _Bifrost_ , but he had no clue what it entailed. The holes in his memory were like quicksand. Occasionally spitting something out or allowing him to come up for air before dragging him back down into the darkness.

“I can call Heimdall from the roof,” Loki said slowly.

“Will you get in trouble for bringing me back with you? Are you allowed to travel freely?”

What had Loki said about his release?

“I am allowed to come and go as I please,” Loki said regally. “My sentence has been served. And you are one of the few approved humans who are allowed to travel to Asgard because Thor, for once, has thought ahead and asked for permission to bring you back to Asgard.”

“So I’ve been there before?”

“No, you have not. But you have permission to travel there. But...you will be travelling with me and...”

“Don’t worry. You’ll do fine. Just point me to a lab, occasionally stop me from dying by feeding me and we’ll be fine. Give me five minutes and then I’ll meet you on the roof.”

Only when Tony was back in his room, stuffing a few things into a small bag, did he realize that Loki might have been hesitant at bringing Tony back to Asgard as his guest because he was supposed to be Thor’s friend. Tony couldn’t help but shake the impression that despite his release, he was still very much persona non grata.

Oh well, Tony shrugged it off. He was going to Asgard. He was going to pioneer important work, even if the world would never know of it, so who cared? And if someone dared to look at him cross-eyed or dared to look at Loki in a funny way, Tony wasn’t going to be shy about putting snobs in place. He’d watched a few footage of himself online. Clearly, he had not brain to mouth filter despite his intelligence. Or maybe, he just really liked getting on people’s nerves. He figured, it might be a bit of both.

“Oh, JARVIS?” He asked on his way out, remembering something. “Should someone come looking for me, tell them I am out on a business errand and I won’t be back for a while? Only in emergencies tell them I’ve gone to Asgard.”

He didn’t want anyone to know where he’d gone. Considering how his supposed friends and team mates had acted so far, he was pretty certain running off with Loki to Asgard wasn’t going to go over very well.

But, he also didn’t want anyone to needlessly worry.

Just because he couldn’t recall his friends, didn’t mean he had to be an ass about it.


	5. Chapter 5

The wind wiped at his face, forcing all the air out of his lungs. It was just…there was no wind. One moment he’d been on the roof of his building, and the next, he was in a giant vortex, hurling through space.

Dark spots were dancing in front of his eyes when the world came back into focus.

“That was…” he wheezed. “That was amazing. Can we go again?” He looked up, catching Loki looking at him oddly.

Oh well, apparently it was his talent to illicit those kind of reactions if his memories served him right. Hah! He had only a few day’s worth of memories, and yet he knew without a shred of doubt how annoying and exasperating he could be.

Funny how the world worked, right?

“Come on, let’s go.” Loki grabbed him by the upper arm, hauling him to his feet. Before Tony could do more than ensure he still had his backpack, Loki was already dragging him along.

“Hey,” he protested. “Who’s the guy with the helmet and the creepy expression?”

Loki didn’t even turn. “Heimdall?”

“Really?” Tony’s voice rose with excitement. “I have some questions for you,” he said, trying to dig his heels in to prevent Loki from dragging further away.

“No, you don’t,” Loki insisted, his fingers digging into Tony’s flesh.

“Heh!” He protested but Loki wasn’t to be swayed. Apparently, he really didn’t want Tony to talk to Heimdall.

Tony was about to protest some more when he caught a look of desperation washing over Loki’s face. It gave him some pause. Well, Heimdall wasn’t going anywhere. They were here for different reasons. 

He stopped his efforts, which hadn’t been fruitless, and let Loki guide him over the rainbow bridge. He’d always thought the name was just the Aesir being fanciful but apparently the thing was seriously sparkling in all the colours of the rainbow.

Tony had no problems with heights but he did make sure to stay away from the edge.

“Usually we ride,” Loki said out of nowhere.

Maybe it was because horses weren’t a common feature in Tony’s life, or maybe it was because he was dirty, dirty man, but when Loki said _usually we ride_ , he couldn’t help but conjure up an image of Loki sitting on his hips, riding him.

“On horses you mean?” Tony asked, clearing his throat.

Loki gave him yet another look. “As opposed to what? Should we be riding on donkeys?”

“You little innocent-you,” Tony cooed, making a kissy face at Loki. He was rewarded with startled wide green eyes and a look of utter incomprehension.

Maybe there was a cultural barrier here, Tony mused, deciding, in an uncharacteristic moment of courtesy, to drop the subject.

When they stepped off the bridge, Tony tried very hard not to be relieved.

“Your father is waiting for you,” one burly looking guard announced the moment Tony’s feet found solid ground.

“Of course,” Loki drawled, every inch the unflappable prince. Still, Tony was certain his new friend wasn’t as calm as he appeared to be.

Tony was about to follow when Loki’s vice grip on his arm returned. Leaning close, he whispered into his ear. Loki’s hot breath washing over his skin had goose bumps spring up everywhere. “You know I’m adopted, right?”

“Err…” Tony drew a blank. What had Loki said? He drew his magic from being Jotun but he used it like an Aesir since he’d been taught their form of magic? Thinking about it, it kind of implied he wasn’t born here…”Of course,” Tony lied.

The frown on Loki’s face smooth out and Tony silently applauded himself for making the right call. Clearly this topic must’ve been dear to the guy.

On their way to wherever they were going, he wasn’t overcome by the beauty around him. Sure, the buildings were impressive, but Loki had to constantly come back and fetch him because Tony couldn’t resist poking at every curious surface he found.

“Restrain yourself,” Loki ordered.

Tony gave him a mock salute.

Had the guard, who was escorting them, just quietly sniggered?

Two doors were pushed open, and once they’d walked through them, Tony was face to face with an older man. The Allfather, he presumed.

“Odin,” Loki greeted him with a smooth voice.

It didn’t take a genius to realize those two were on bad terms. However, much like with Thor before, Tony couldn’t help shake the feeling that the truth might lie somewhere in the middle.

There was no doubt on his mind that the fleeting emotion on Odin’s face was something akin to fondness and loving exasperation. The last bit seemed to be an emotion Tony thought he was well acquainted with.

“Loki. You’ve brought along one of _Thor’s_ friends…” Odin’s voice trailed off at the end. 

Tony glanced at Loki, watching him grind his teeth. The implication had been loud and clear. _What was a friend of Thor’s doing with you?_

Tony wasn’t one for staying quiet, so he hijacked the conversation before Loki could get a word in edgewise.

“I wanted to come. Thor was busy. Is it a problem?” He barely left any room for an answer before he continued. “Great!” Then, with great purpose, he turned his back to Odin. “Loki, why don’t you show me around? I could use something to eat…”

Loki’s mouth hung slightly open as if no one had ever tried to intercede on his behalf. Tony didn’t wait for any further replies. He grabbed Loki’s sleeve, dragging him along. Since no one stopped them, he figured they weren’t going to get thrown into a dingy dungeon for disrespecting the big kahuna.

Outside, he let Loki take the lead. “Do you really want something to eat?”

“Of course not,” Tony scoffed. “We’ve got work to do. Lead the way!”

Loki gave him yet another look as if he feared for Tony’s sanity before he took them down lots of brightly lit hallways towards glass doors which opened the moment they approached.

“How dramatic,” Tony muttered. No wonder Loki had a certain flair.

“We can set up in the back,” Loki declared, leading him past huge shelves stacked with books, stone tables and scrolls. “No one ever comes here.”

“Too busy fighting, I presume,” Tony muttered.

“Something like that.”

The back wasn’t a dark corner. Actually, it was very bright. Flanked on two sides by ceiling high windows, they had an excellent view over Asgard. It galled Tony to realize, humans weren’t the first ones to have invented tinted windows to keep the sun from glaring. Turning his back at the affront to his pride on behalf of his entire planet and their ingenuity, he vowed to surpass them by succeeding at combining science and magic.

“You look weird,” Loki commented.

Tony raised an eye brow. “As opposed to what?”

It was now Loki’s turn to mutter something about crazy humans before the sorcerer stalked off. Not the least bit fazed, Tony unpacked, shoving a few dusty books from the nearby table. This was clearly Loki’s place considering the amount of books with little notes in them. Since no one had bothered to shelve the books again, clearly no one else seemed to be bothered with learning about magic at all.

It kind of fit with the image of Asgard Tony had in his mind. He was already deep in his schematics by the time Loki returned.

The sun rose to its zenith, passing down into the clouds. Darkness followed. Tony barely noticed the candles automatically turning on, nor did he notice the illumination coming from the walls and the floor, making it very easy to keep working.

Then the sun rose again.

Loki had been casting non stop for the better part of the night. By the time Tony rubbed his eyes, his friend looked a bit grey around the eyes. He figured, he didn’t look much better. They’d made strides in infusing his bracelet with magic but so far, apart from working brilliantly for a few seconds, it had always sort of imploded.

Tony rubbed at the scorch marks on his writs. Loki had helped with soothing them but he hadn’t been able to completely heal them.

“I could try…” Loki offered again. “I’m not totally useless at healing spells.”

“Not after you said you’d once accidentally snapped Thor’s bone when you tried to reset it. Soothing the skin is fine. It’ll heal in time.”

Loki was muttering again. Should Tony find it this endearing? Probably not. He kept watching the dark haired man from underneath his eyes lashes, cataloguing how he seemed to mumble every time he read something, fingers tapping on the wooden table in a weird, yet soothing, rhythm. 

Was it odd for them to work so well together? Falling into synch this easily? It wasn’t as if his memory could be counted on at the moment, but he had the niggling feeling in the back of his mind which told him, he usually was a creature of solitude.

"You're staring," Loki told him without looking up.

Tony shrugged. "So what?"

"Why do you stare?"

"Maybe I like what I'm looking at?" Tony countered.

This got a reaction, albeit not the one he'd been expecting. Loki loudly shut the book, turning on his seat so he could level a glare at the other man. "Why do you mock me?"

"Err?"

"Why do you keep insisting you like working with me? Why do you…?"

"Oh put a sock in it," Tony groused. Since words were apparently not getting him anywhere, he heaved his tired body off his chair. Once he'd closed the distance, he sunk onto Loki's lap, putting his hands on his shoulders.

The wide eyed, open-mouthed look on Loki wasn’t necessarily a flattering expression but Tony liked it just fine. He pressed a quick kiss on the lush lips before pulling away. He'd rather stay, find out if the guy was just as delectable underneath his clothes as he was now, but he figured he'd pushed his luck far enough.

"What about food?"

No answer.

Tony turned again, glancing over his shoulders. "Did I steal your voice? Do you want me to come back?"

"No!" Loki actually squeaked before he blushed.

Tony frowned. Had the kiss been that bad? Well, he straightened up. Practice made perfect, right? More kissing was then in order. Before he could make another move, Loki side stepped him, latching onto his wrist.

"You know," Tony said cheerfully, enjoying himself immensely. "We could just walk side by side. There's no reason for you to constantly cling to me. I won't get lost."

Promptly after saying those words, something shiny caught Tony's attention. He yanked his hand out of Loki's grip, dashing towards it. When the blasted thing moved, whooshing around a corner, he gave chase. A few turns later, he couldn’t figure out where it had gone.

"Damn it," he cursed, rubbing his chin.

When he turned, he stared at the fork in the hallway. He cursed some more. Which way had he come?

"Didn’t you just say you weren’t going to get lost?" Loki's voice floated through to him on barely restrained laughter. Seconds later, Loki shimmered into existence.

Instead of yelping, Tony focused his fright into anger. "You," he raised his finger to poke at Loki's chest. "I am not lost. I am sure, given enough time, I can retrace my steps." Then, he straightened up, fully prepared to back up his theory.

"No need," Loki informed him. "The dining hall is just behind you."

"Aha!" Tony exclaimed. "Further proof I didn’t get lost! I led us exactly where we intended to go in the first place!"

"If you say so."

"I do, I do!"

Loki didn’t bother with answering Tony's last statement. Instead, he brushed past him, kicking at the door until it swung open. No fancy automatic door opening for the dining halls then? Since the door looked heavy, Tony rushed after his friend. He wouldn’t put it past those weird people to make the doors extra heavy to test manliness or some other sort of nonsense. Maybe only the strong were allowed to feed?

It was already late in the afternoon but not late enough for the evening crowd. 

"Does everyone eat here?" Tony whispered, not wanting to show his ignorance by talking too loud.

"No," Loki answered. "Only those currently living in the palace take their meals here. Everyone else either eats at home or in local dining halls."

"You like being social, don’t you…" Tony couldn’t think of a bigger horror than being forced to eat at the same time, more or less, every day and with the same people! How boring!

Loki gave him a look which told him he shared his sentiment. Tony recalled Loki's story about going hungry, about being unable to acquire food from the kitchen because it wasn’t _proper_ for a prince. Well, no one better mess with his, or with Loki's, food on his watch! He might not have brought his armour, an oversight on his part, but he wasn’t some defenceless human. 

He wasn’t too sure what the swirly thing did he found in his lab but he was sure he could improvise. Right now, the pen-like thing with the painted swirls on it was resting in his pocket. He refused to consider it might actually be a pen. He wouldn’t have need for such an ordinary object. Did you see his lab? No pens required.

Loki guided them to a table up front. It required walking past a few curious people but Tony ignored their stares. He'd googled himself. He was aware how much attention he usually achieved every time he left the house. He might not remember being under constant scrutiny but he'd rather liked reading about his antics on the web. Clearly he didn’t give two cents about what people thought about him. He wasn’t about to start now with these aliens.

With his head held high, he took his seat opposite Loki. "Now what?" He asked, staring at the empty wooden surface.

He'd barely spoken those words when servants showed up with trays of food, depositing them on the table. Roasted, possibly, boar; more meat of unidentifiable origin; a huge stack of potatoes; ale.

He wrinkled his nose. It looked delicious but who was supposed to eat all of this?

"Just did in," Loki said, already at work, his eyes occasionally darting left and right as if e wanted to ensure no one got near his food. Tony didn’t need to be told twice. He piled food over food on his plate, using his fingers to feed himself. When in Rome…eat like a barbarian…then again, there was something to be said about touching the meat with his fingers instead of cutting it up into tiny, little pieces. 

A fruit was snatched of Loki's plate, vanishing into a fist. The guy growled, twisting in his seat so he could look at the man towering over him. And, tower he did. Loki might be tall but he was slender. Tony was sure he was hiding muscles and a lean, delicious figure, but he wasn’t anywhere close to the rather impressive body mass of Thor or of this guy here.

"I hope you choke on it," Loki muttered. Tony could only hear him because he was staring at his lips.

"What did you just say?" The burly ass asked.

"I believe he asked you to take a hike," Tony offered up, drawing all attention towards him.

"Who are you?"

"His friend," Tony calmly stated before Loki could get a word out. "Who the fuck are you?" He challenged. If backed into a corner, fight. "Has no one taught you any manners? Or is the simple concept of hospitality too much for your pea brain to comprehend?"

Blink.

Blink.

Tony almost missed the big guy launching into action, side stepping the table, crowding into his space. His arms reached out to snatch him up but Tony, a little bit surprised at how quickly the big ass had moved, was still prepared. His fingers wrapped around his little swirly weapon, lifting it. He pointed and squeeze.

Ink shot out from the front, hitting the attacker straight in the eye. He roared, reeling backwards, landing in an undignified heap on the floor.

 _Huh,_ Tony thought, _it really was only a pen. Who knew?_

"Tony."

He didn’t need Loki's urgent whisper of his name. He'd heard the rather loud footsteps behind him. He tensed, waiting for the right moment. He let go of his pen, ignoring it as it fell to the floor. When the air moved behind him, and his spine was tingling with anticipation, he ducked, flinging himself sideways towards the table. His fingers wrapped around the knife he'd used to carve a slice of, probably, ham of the huge chunk of meat on the table.

The woman wasn’t to be reasoned with apparently because instead of stopping, she tried to grab him. Tony ducked, kicking out to unbalance her. Then, with one swift move, he put his hand on the small of her back, yanking her towards him. His other hand firmly put the blade against her throat. Of course, as an Aesir, she was stronger than he was. Still, he'd probably be able to do some damage before she could react. And besides, wasn’t someone sooner or later realize he was a guest here? Or was this how they always treated people who were visiting?

"If I were you," he threatened, because hey, they were at a standstill otherwise, "I would stop moving. I'm not a totally useless human after all. I've got skills."

"I'm sure Thor will be interested in you explaining to him why you've attacked one of his friends," Loki had finally found his voice again. This time it was dripping with glee.

The woman narrowed her eyes at him. Under different circumstances, Tony might've appreciated being this close to someone so deadly and beautiful. With Loki nearby, though, everything, and everyone else, always seemed to dim. Why was that?

"But he came with you," the previous attacked declared. "And he said he was your friend."

"Can't I be both?" Tony inquired, slowly lowering his blade as a sign of good faith. The woman eyed him with murder in her eyes but she didn’t continue with her attack.

"Of course not," she clarified. "This is Loki we're talking about. He's got not time to make friends since his nose is always buried in a book. Besides, didn’t he attack your world?"

Tony shrugged. It wasn’t as if he could remember it. Reading about the destruction wasn’t the same thing as actually remembering it. Beside him, Loki paled, looking as if he was preparing himself for a deadly blow. This wouldn’t do.

"Oh, stop it," Tony hissed, partially turning his face at him. He wasn’t stupid enough to totally break eye contact with the deadly female warrior. "Everyone throws a tantrum once in a while."

"Tantrum?" It was good to see Loki's previously pale face replaced by a look of outrage. 

Tony waved him off. He didn’t have time to sooth Loki's ego. Focusing on the woman again, he added. "I can't remember," he honestly said. "But I'm pretty certain I'm, at least indirectly, responsible for levelling a country or two. Can't say I feel too sorry about it either. But hey, at least I've done something productive with my life, right? And I'm making up for my sins, now…" _At least that's what the bloody internet said_ , Tony mentally added.

He was well aware he might be a bit too blasé about Loki trying to invade his home. Maybe if he would have his memories, he wouldn’t be this easy going about it. However, if he'd learned anything, then it was to trust his feelings. When he'd encountered Loki, he hadn't felt any animosity at all. He couldn’t say the same thing when he thought back to Fury stalking into his bedroom, making demands. Even his supposed assistant, the one named after a spice…salt? No, Pepper! Even looking at her had caused his heart to twinge. And not in a good way.

So, his memories might not be fully there, but they weren’t completely gone. And going by this, he knew he didn’t hate Loki. Maybe this was their chance at a fresh start?

"But you're Thor's friend," the oaf pointed out again.

"And your point is?" Tony prompted. "Isn't Thor Loki's brother? Is there a rule I can only like one of them? And it isn’t as if I got any intention of jumping Thor's bones any time soon. Now, Loki here though…well." Now Tony leered at the baffled looking Loki.

"Why would you jump on someone's bones?" the woman asked.

A demonstration was in order then.

Tony drew a deep breath, wiped his mouth. Then he stalked towards Loki, shoved him back onto the seat before straddling him once more. Then, he kissed him again. Contrary to before, this time he put his best effort into it, making it so far removed from PG-13 it was practically on another planet.

When he was done, and more than a little bit hard, they had an audience.

"Don’t you people have porn you can watch in private?"

More silence.

"Well," Tony drawled, winking at the speechless maiden warrior. "If Loki doesn’t mind, I'm up for an audience."

Looking down confirmed he was way more than _up_.

Loki suddenly dug his fingers into Tony's bare arm until he drew blood. "You serious about this?" He asked, eyes sober.

Tony gulped. Then he nodded. What had started out like a joke, like some good fun, was morphing into something more. But did he mind? Did he even do relationships? Well, he decided, it wasn’t as if he didn’t enjoy a challenge. And dating Loki surely would be.

Seconds later the world vanished. When it came back into focus, he was on a big bed.

"Much better," he mumbled, a huge smile on his face.


End file.
